Friends! Welcome to this late autumn installment of The Quarantine Questers…
Is it time, dear readers, for our brave group of heroes to rename themselves? To choose a group name, an identity that strikes fear into all the evil hearts of the world? Let us keep our eyes and ears open for such an inspirational moniker.
At any rate, let’s reintroduce our valiant warriors.
Carlos: Half-Elf LG Storm Sorcerer (Anderson)
Andraste: Wood Elf CG Monk (Jenny)
Thro’Viloanna Hlaendeth AKA Vilya: High Elf NG Wizard (of the Divination School) and her snake, Astraeya (Maddy)
Brynja of the Shadowaxe Clan: Dwarf CG Twilight Cleric (Heather)
Thack: Dwarf NG Barbarian (Brent)
Back at The Hearth in Candlekeep for a rest, the party discusses the cryptic reference to “spores” in the letter confiscated from Oswald’s dead body. Whether it’s an overheard tidbit in the inn or researched by Vilya or presented by one of the many learned sages, the notes do not say…but the spores are known as Gingwatzim (to be confused with Gangnam Style or Ginkgo Biloba). It seems these spores are causing major problems in the area.
Of course they are. And defeating them shall become another feat our elite cadre will accomplish. After resurrecting Matreous. And curing Erin. And raising the monies do both of these things. Oh, and figure out what’s up with the attacking books.
And while I’m on the topic, let’s talk about Erin for a moment. I’m sure the party is beginning to regret their decision to bring her along, for she has grown sullen and useless. When Thack asks her at the breakfast table if she’s heard anything about crops and spores, she responds with a mulish “No.”
Azequem, the main sage, arrives with an idea to engage in more talk about fund-raising and the possessed book situation. In what may seem like unimportant knowledge, Avequem is a member of a group called The Avowed, academics who are committed to scholarship above all pursuits. Don’t know if that’s something our players need to know, but it’s recorded here for posterity.
Also, the Save Matreous fund is right around 500 gp, and Avequem announces his group will match whatever funds the party raises (hahahaha…”raises”. Raise the money, raise the dead. Sounds like a t-shirt). The group is still far short of the 1,500 gp goal, and thus, it looks like another quest-job-thingy will have to be undertaken.
When Avequem expresses his concern about the third book attack in the last month, our champions have questions. The three titles include: Dark Hunger, Fallen Tethyamar, and Mazfrost’s Mighty Digressions. Avequem cross-references his card catalog when the players ask who had used the books for entrance into the city. And, he seems a little huffy about the request (Um, sorry for trying to help solve YOUR problem, dude). It is discovered that a human male named Yalarian and a gnome named Dolo brought in two of the three, while a tiefling named Valor brought in the third. And what luck, the first man can be found here in Candlekeep, at the medieval equivalent of Kinko’s – The House of the Binder. The third, the tiefling, is actually SHINGLING the roof here at the Hearth to help pay for damages her book caused. The second person, Dolo the Gnome, is later discovered to have left the city and is unavailable for questioning. Wonder if that matters at all? Eh, probably not.
So, at this point, notes are unclear about what exactly happens next. As the heroes enter the House of the Binder, they espy a gnome meticulously doing some copy-work. He appears to be unwilling to answer the many questions the party has, and perhaps in a gesture of frustration on the part of somebody, some of the ink spills and pages are torn. It’s no surprise the gnome-scribe is extremely agitated. Extremely. Therefore, the LG sorcerer Carlos attempts to cast Mending to help repair the damage. But…
FUMBLE!
The gnome’s shrieks of agonizing fury resound throughout the building as Carlos’s spell backfires and the ink actually begins lifting up off the pages and siphoning itself back into the inkwell. All of the gnome’s work is utterly undone…and the party now has one hysterical little humanoid on their hands. Within moments, a gangly, purple-robed human male presents himself and asks what is going on. As the party attempts to explain the situation, the gnome nearly faints with apoplexy and sinks into a muttering heap on the floor. Sad. Anyway. As it turns out, the young man the group is now speaking with is none other than Yalarian Highscroll! The questions regarding his attacking book come forth like the ink from the pages around them. Yalarian’s book incident occurred four days ago and he had purchased the tome in a city called Baldur’s Gate. Yalarian recalls the name of the market in the city (The Wide), but not the specific name of the bookvendor. Although, he does remember the word ‘Dune’ is in the name.
Andraste clarifies that, indeed, Yalarian did purchase the book in B-Gate and brought it to Candlekeep, yes? Yalarian responds in the affirmative on this point, also mentioning that Kallan was the guard on duty who received the tome. Oh, the party thinks, we know Kallan. Brynja tucks that information in her backpocket, as the guard might be someone to visit later on today. In what is probably also another unimportant detail, the party learns that the sad gnome under the table is named Yolo. Does Yolo know Dolo? Dunno.
Yalarian > Yolo > Dolo > Froyo > Frodo. And finally, it time to bid Yalarian farewell and seek out Valor, the grouchy roof-repairing bookbuying tiefling! However, Yolo has some final words for the party as they depart – that he hopes he never sees them again.
Well, bye, then.
A short stroll from THotB takes the crew back to their lodgings, where an exotic-looking, planestouched creature is repairing shingles up on the roof. The party watches her work for several moments before Thack hollers up and asks if she would like some water?
Valor: Who are you? (She definitely responds in a surly manner, whether it’s from the work, the heat, or it’s just her natural temperment is unknown).
Thack: These are my friends. (Editorial note: It is fortunate Thack pronounced the word ‘friends’ correctly. Had he left out the ‘r’, he would have said fiends…which seems like a horribly inappropriate thing to say to a tiefling.)
Carlos: So, we heard from Azequem you’ve had book issues?
Andraste: Your roof looks nice.
Thack: We heard you fought the book.
Valor rolls her eyes, throws down her tools in disgust and grudgingly alights from the roof. She offers up nothing the party did not already know: she too purchased her book in Baldur’s Gate at The Wide. Vilya asks about ‘Dune’ and Valor responds that sounds familiar but she cannot recollect the exact name of the vendor. The wizard goes on ask about what brings the tiefling to Candlekeep, and Valor replies that she was following her quarry from Baldur’s Gate, as she is a bounty hunter by trade.
It is clear after several more minutes that Valor’s question-and-answer session is coming to a close. She is less interested in participating in an investigation and more about finishing the roof. Thack offers to help and rolls an amazing Athetics check (19); the dwarf barbarian practically CHUCKS the shingles up onto the roof and each one almost magically falls into the right place. The tiefling stares for a moment, obviously impressed, before returning back to the roofing duties at hand.
The party then heads off in the direction of the entrance gate to talk with Kallan. Upon asking, the guardsman tells them each book incident occurred in roughly the same manner, with the same kind of scream about feeding before beginning to attack. And then, Kallan makes an underhanded but pointed remark about the attacks maybe being due to some kind of demonic possession, which prompts Vilya to ask, “Why do you blame the tiefling?” Kallan gets a bit sniffy and the topic changes moments later. The question of enchantments come up, and interestingly enough, it also comes from the wizard.
Now, your humble scribe would never pretend to be a mind-reader, and this is all pure speculation, but it’s likely that Vilya’s question comes from a curiosity about protective enchantments. As in, why aren’t you all casting protections here at the gate to prevent things like this from happening? And after all, the question is a fair one, as Kallan (as you will all remember) is very good at casting spells to protect himself in battle situations. Hm.
Kallan’s answer is not recorded here, but it is assumed the conversation comes to an end shortly afterwards. While details are sketchy at this time, one notion is rising out of the mist: all roads lead to Baldur’s Gate.
But before the party embarks on another journey, there’s some work to be done. Everyone’s got a to-do list.
Vilya = Read up on demons and artifacts.
Brynja = Investigate reports on book attack incident to look for clues,
Thack & Carlos = Sell stuff. Then, Thack wants to help Valor shingle some more.
Andraste = Work on a special “we’re sorry” project/gift for Yolo.
It’s never a dull moment with this crew, my dear fiends…and I’m so glad you’re along for the journey. We shall have to wait with baited breath to see how our heroes handle this new obstacle. With stout hearts and ready swords/spells/fists, no doubt.
As ever and forever Your Humble Scribe,
Heather
Yolo was always just a gnome. Not sure what you picked up on that would make you think otherwise.
Thanks. Fixed.